THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF TERROR: 9/11 AND MEDIA FRAMING OF THE INDIA-PAKISTAN CONFLICT
Open Access
- Author:
- Bhattacharya, Sandhya
- Graduate Program:
- Mass Communications
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- August 07, 2007
- Committee Members:
- John Spicer Nichols, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Mary Beth Oliver, Committee Member
Anthony Olorunnisola, Committee Member
Dr Kumkum Chatterjee, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Globalization
India
Terrorism
Framing
Localization
News - Abstract:
- The events on 11, September 2001, have cleaved the world into two ideological camps – a coalition of willing democracies led by the United States versus authoritarian ‘axis of evil’ regimes, harboring extremist groups. While most countries were pressured to clarify their position in this debate some are re-evaluating global discourses post September 11th, in light of their own struggles against terrorist activity. One such nation is India whose contentious relationship with Pakistan over the state of Jammu and Kashmir, raises concerns about Pakistani sponsored terrorism in this area. The Indian press’ coverage of the September 2001 attacks shows a concerted effort to position India in line with other global democracies on this war against terror, while simultaneously attempting to undermine its neighbor and political rival. The impact of American rhetoric thus extends beyond a divide between democracy and authoritarianism to include the experiences of other countries. Using theories from globalization and transnational communication, this study explores how the Indian press read global discourses on terrorism following the attacks in New York and the United States, particularly in light of India’s own struggles against terrorism in Kashmir. A combination of content and textual analyses was used to compare media discourses from in India and United States; to determine if news frames on terrorism in both countries converged after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Results indicated a negotiated reading of terrorist discourses and localized constructions of terrorism in the Indian press. Furthermore, an analysis of media texts also demonstrated that the Indian press were somewhat resistant to the notion of a global pan-Islamist threat post 9/11, and were more likely to consider terrorism a state sponsored rather than a fringe activity. Thus, while acknowledging the value of structural and dependency theories, this study additionally argues for a more complex understanding of ‘information flows,’ on the grounds that a nation’s readings of international events are localized to its own cultural history and political aspirations.